Exporing beauty and responsibility

Earthrise: learning from Apollo 8

Published August 2, 2019 in Creation Care - 4 Comments
Earthrise - a tribute to Apollo 8

I want to tell you about this Good Earth, with the help of the Apollo 8 crew.

I want to tell you about this Good Earth, with the help of the Apollo 8 crew.

We did something that ended up

showing the earth and its people
exactly
how we existed
where we are
that we were really here on Earth
a space craft
and we are all astronauts
and whether we liked it
or not
that like we were in (the) spacecraft
having to work closely together
to accomplish the mission.
Down here
we seem
not to be able
to do that.

Captain James Lovell, Earthrise

Indian Head rock formation near Killarney, Ontario by Dale Youngman

This rock formation over covered portage photographed as the sun is beginning to set reminds us of the beauty of Father's earth.   Photo by Dale Youngman

It’s been 51 years since the crew of Apollo 8 circled the moon and took the now famous picture of the earth rising over the desolate lunar surface. It is estimated a quarter of the earth’s population saw the Apollo 8 broadcasts, and the photo itself was an inspiration for the first Earth Day in 1970. 

The photo still evokes a sense of wonder in me. This little blue jewel framed by the lifeless moon and the vastness of space. Our precious, fragile, home. 

I had a different suite of feelings when I heard Jim Lovell’s words quoted above on the compelling documentary, Earthrise. ‘Down here we seem not to be able to do that’. I felt sad and frustrated. I’ve now been working in the environmental field for 42 years with a generation who saw Bill Ander's photo. We have made incredible progress in feeding the world and removing people out of poverty. But we have the side effects of reduced biodiversity and more and more people succumbing to the effects of air pollution. 

Down here we seem not to be able to do that.

What is the ‘that’ to which Captain Lovell is referring? Astronauts have to work as a team on their fragile spacecraft to live. So do we on this earth. Jim Lovell calls this Earth a spacecraft. And like a spacecraft, we all have to work together to ensure its life support system can care for us all as we hurtle through space at 30 km/sec.   

We need the prophets, writers and scientists who flag issues of concern. We need engineers and businesspersons to implement creative solutions. We need all of us to use our resources wisely, to share what we have, to dance elegantly on this Good Earth. Just think if every one of us 7.53 billion people did one small thing to make the Earth better, how much better the Earth would be. We need to work together. It is not easy to change life styles, consume more carefully and develop new innovations. We need to listen to each other and support each other as we ‘Work in the Garden’ (Gen 2:15).

On Christmas Eve, 1968, as the Apollo 8 astronauts rounded the moon for the ninth time, they read the first ten verses from the Book of Genesis back to Earth. They ended their reading with, ‘God bless all of you, all of you on the Good Earth’.

This whole Earth is a love song to the Father.

Oh, brothers and sisters, is it not a Good Earth? God saw it was good. So should we. This whole Earth is a love song to the Father. Does it groan (Rom 8:22)? Yes, it does. And should we not strain as well, do everything we can to restore and bring clean air, clean water, and restored ecosystems to every living thing on this planet? Yes, we should. Should not every human and every living thing have room to flourish to attain their God-given potential? It’s God’s creation, let it flourish!

My next post will be  ‘A response to Dianne’, a faithful reader of these blogs and a dear friend in Christ to Terri and me. She writes, ‘Please give some specific, practical examples of doing something in my neighbourhood which could show  redemptive  creation in action.’ Well I must admit this blog was a bit out in  space. I will come down to earth to answer Dianne. 

Till then, God bless all of you, all of you on the Good Earth.

Apollo 8 Crew

If you want to see more of the history of the Apollo 8 mission leading up to the iconic photo, check out the Emmy nominated documentary Earthrise at https://emergencemagazine.org/story/earthrise-film/ 

There is a copy of the astronauts reading Genesis on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8 under the Earthrise section.

4 comments

Terri - August 4, 2019 Reply

You really made me think about the challenges the astronauts had working together to accomplish their mission and why do we have such a challenge working together to take care of our environment. Maybe if we can each do just a litle practical piece all the time and share what we are doing intentionally in our circle of influences we can see the ripple start. Thanks for inspiring us as we read your blog, Mark.

    Mark Polet - August 4, 2019 Reply

    The ripple analogy is compelling, Terri. I was thinking after reading your comment how the astronauts applied conservation (using resources wisely) and innovation (using applied science to help the mission succeed). We need both skills to steward God’s creation.

Heather Seargeant - August 3, 2019 Reply

Thanks for this article. And, yes, please, I am trying to be more ‘green’ but feeling like I fail miserably. My husband and I just were able to go on a very long and wonderful road trip through Canada and the US, but, I felt guilty about the poor gas mileage our car was getting and want to purchase a more efficient vehicle. We want to research electric cars and want to know if this is the best way to go. I am also interested in the next blog on the same note as practical things I/we can do in the community.
Thanks so much!
Heather

    Mark Polet - August 3, 2019 Reply

    Thanks, Heather. I am glad you got to see the majesty of God’s creation on the North American continent. I appreciate your heartfelt words on moving toward energy efficiency. You are moving the dialogue forward on how to dance elegantly on this Good Earth. We’ll do our best to propose the most ecologically friendly dancing shoes!

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